Page 24 of Gods' Battleground

His scowl deepened. “Of all the ridiculous, harebrained, ill-conceived?—”

“Hey, if I’m ill-conceived, you have only yourself to blame,” I cut in. “You played a pretty pivotal role in conceiving me, Pops.”

He humphed. “I had hoped that being elevated to the role of deity would cure you of your incessant irreverence, but alas, no.”

I shrugged. “I am who I am.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “And who is that exactly?”

“Someone who does the right thing, even when it hurts.”

Faris made an impatient noise. “No one is hurting you.”

“This conversation is.” I rubbed my head.

“Well, I do hope you are quite finished being melodramatic.”

I didn’t point out the irony in his words.

“Because I am reallyquitebusy,” Faris continued, “and have no time for your games.”

“No games. I’m simply keeping Vertigo. End of story.”

“That is unacceptable,” he said with a barely-restrained growl.

I lifted my brows. “Why?”

“Because Vertigo is my property.”

“She is a person,” I pointed out.

“And?” Faris said, his tone icy.

I squared my shoulders and looked him right in the eye. “People aren’t property.”

“It’s exactly that sort of attitude?—”

“That makes menotan asshole,” I cut him off.

“That makes youvulnerable,” he corrected, his lips stretched thin. “If you want to play the games of gods and demons, you cannot show any weakness.” He gave me a hard, assessing look. “Humanity is a weakness, Leda.”

I dug my heels into this conversation and prepared for a bumpy ride. “Ok, fine, you want to do this the hard way? Let’s do it the hard way! Might I remind you that it wasyouwho sent me after Vertigo?”

“I require no reminder,” he said, monotone. “My memory is infallible.”

Yeah, just like everything else about him.

“You told me that, as the Goddess of Telepaths, finding Vertigo was my responsibility,” I said. “Well, I assure you that Itake that roleveryseriously. It is my duty and my right to look after telepaths.”

Faris frowned. He must have sensed where I was going with this.

“Vertigo is a telepath, and, as such, she belongs to me.”

His frown deepened. “What happened to ‘people aren’t property’?”

“I thought I’d act like a god for once,” I said. “I found Vertigo. I subdued her. I brought her to my territory. Finders keepers.”

Faris’s clenched jaw cracked.

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